The Traditional Model is Suffering

Yesterday GamePolitics ran a story covering Fortune's article on videogame takeovers. As Rolf Winkler and Rob Cox of breakingviews.com report, "With their business models under threat and shares in the doldrums, video game publishers like Electronic Arts look ripe for the picking by larger media conglomerates such as Walt Disney."

Contributing to the environment is, of course, the economy. However, the success of social gaming is both a symptom of the current climate and a factor aggravating the wounds of traditional game publishers. EA recently announced that it would be released fewer, but better games. While this scaling back of content is a sign that media conglomerates might be able to move in and make some hefty purchases, I wouldn't say that it's an entirely desperate move. As Winkler and Cox explain:

Publishing video games is like making movies: Invest millions developing titles and pray for blockbusters. As in Hollywood, the trick is to establish successful franchises and regularly ride them to riches. Studios look for the next Harry Potter. Game publishers search for the next Call of Duty.

On the other hand, social gaming requires a lot less investment in individual titles, especially at the start. Here quantity -- generally at the expense of innovation -- is a dominant factor. It isn't surprising that traditional published like EA have to move away from a model like that, and personally, I don't think it's upsetting, either.

It's silly to drop all the time and resources to produce a well-polished but terrible game. You can either be the dexterous indie developer that blows everyone's mind with their quirky innovation, or you can funnel millions into creating a breathtaking, blockbuster experience. There is rarely room for middle ground.

I fully support EA's decision to let the smaller companies do what they do best. Their purchase of Playfish shows that they're willing to get into the field of social gaming, without making the mistake of pitting their big titles against the likes of stuff you play for 5 minutes a day on Facebook.

Playfish: "Technology Pioneer" for 2010

TechCrunch ran a story a couple days ago reporting the announce of the World Economic Forum's choices for technology companies to keep an eye on. Among 25 others, social gaming powerhouse Playfish was named among them.

To be selected, a company must be "involved in the development of a life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society." The companies must also "demonstrate visionary leadership and show all the signs of a long-standing and sustainable market leader."

CrunchBase also has an excellent page of Playfish's recent financial news and stats as a company.

Presentation Topic: Social Gaming

I've been deliberating for a couple weeks now, and a few days ago I decided that for the final project for Business of Media, I'd like to dig into the quickly growing world of Social Gaming.

I've taken a quick look at social games in the past, as well as EA's purchase of Playfish.However, as with many emerging trends in the realm of online social activity, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Social games are doing things that traditional games have never be able to accomplish. For example, Nintendo recently bragged about how many female players it has, compared to other consoles like the Xbox or PS3.

This is all well and good, but when you look at social games, women and girls aren't just a small pink chunk on a pie chart: they dominate the field. This is a by-product of the fact that they are spending more time with social media, in general.

And while bridging the gender gap alone would is an impressive feat in the gaming industry (women have always been big gamers in the casual sphere, but rarely have they been so readily talked about), it is just one reason why social gaming is so attractive right now.

Teaser Trailers: Not Just for Movies

I've been talking a lot about animations and videos done to promote videogames recently, and today Kotaku covered a new "teaser" out for an unknown, upcoming FPS.

The name of the game and gameplay will premiere during the VGAs on December 12 at 8pmET/PT on Spike. A Halo: Reach trailer is also scheduled for the broadcast.

Teasers are an excellent way to build viral buzz, if done well. Cloverfield is a great example of this for the movie industry. Mystery can become allure very quickly, and 2K Games (the folks behind BioShock, Civ IV, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and many other blockbuster titles) is hardly a small-time player.

And when you've got that kind of industry clout, why not exercise it in a less conventional way?

Beyond the Game Trailer: Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed II, which launched this week along with L4D2 put out an interesting bit of content to promote their new game. Most fans are used to seeing cinematic trailers which span 3 to 5 minutes and try to capture you interest much like a movie trailer would. However, Ubisoft took the traditional cinematic a step further when they released a 30 minute short film to tell the story of what happened between the final scene of Assassin's Creed -- a total cliffhanger that frustrated many players (I, on the other hand, kind of liked it) -- and where Assassin's Creed II picks up.

(Go here to watch the full version.)

The idea that more companies might take this route in the future should make any gamer happy: more content is almost always better than less, especially when it comes from big name players. As for advertising, it's hard to say if anyone not already inclined to play the game would sit through a 30 minute movie for it. On the other hand, it's a brilliant way to remind those people who enjoyed the first game to get out there and purchase the sequel!

Special Editions: The Appeal to Eager Fans

Set to launch early next year, the BioShock 2 Special Edition packaged was announced today. Special Editions for videogames are not unpopular when it comes to franchises which have either done well in the past, or have a lot of positive buzz surrounding them. For a decent chunk of change on top of the regular price tag, Special Editions are a really positive way to give eager fans more of the merchandise they want.

The BioShock 2 Special Edition, for instance, supplies the player with tons of concept art, a soundtrack (in both CD and vinyl), and some posters modeled after the ones that hang on the desolate walls of Rapture: the in-game, underwater city. Special and Collector's Editions of games aren't new -- they date back to the Dreamcast and N64 era -- but they have become more fleshed out over the years. Now you can expect to find content ranging from the standard, mucho-glossy concept art book, to figurines and toys.

Wikipedia has a great list of all games which have had Collector's/Special Editions, along with what goodies they were packaged with.

The BioShock: Limited Edition Package

Facebook and Twitter on LIVE: More Ads to Come?

The integration of Twitter and Facebook onto Xbox LIVE was announced this summer at E3 some months ago, the launch came out today.While the Xbox LIVE experience is already one marked by advertisements, not only for games but also partner companies like Netflix, it's not a stretch to speculate that this is another channel through which advertising will approach the gaming market.

Facebook already hosts targeted ads, and Twitter's announcement several weeks back about the upcoming ads in the future make it hard-pressed for me to imagine that these features would be offered for free, sans-ads, on such a huge commercial giant like LIVE.